Magic Shine vs. Dinotte 600L

I have been using a Dinotte 600L for the past two years, and I love this light. I have used it for both Mountain Biking, and my almost-daily wintertime commute to/from work. This light has served me well and has been rock solid.

I've been wanting a second light so that my son could ocassionally night ride with me, so when I saw the Magic Shine for $85, I bought one. I've used it for a couple of work commutes now and thought I would share some impressions and hope that you find this useful.

Packaging, Presentation and Documentation - Winner: Dinotte

Both lights came in a nice box and both were well packaged. The Dinotte came with documentation outlining usage, runtime, battery care, etc. The Magic Shine came with nothing. Not a big deal, but I give the nod to Dinotte here.

Construction and Durability - Winner: Dinnotte

Comparing the two lights side by side, the Dinotte is most definitely the more well constructed light. It's body is beefier, the cables and connectors are heavier construction and the battery pack is mounted inside a waterproof plastic case. It's not that the Magic Shine is poorly constructed, it's just that taken next to the Dinotte light, it looks and feels less well-built. The Dinotte has proven itself to me in two years of heavy usage whereas the Magic Shine does not have enough "time over target" yet to make a call.

Weight - Winner: Magic Shine

I don't have a scale to weight them, but comparing the two by hand, the Magic Shine battery and light combination is lighter than the Dinotte combination.

Mounting - Winner: Dinotte

Both lights have helmet and handlebar mounting options. They both appear to work well. I would give a slight advantage to the Dinotte light in that it has a breakaway feature for Mountain Biking, whereas the Magic Shine light does not. I've hit branches a couple of times when Mountain Biking and each time was happy that my Dinotte light popped off my helmet and did not take the entire blow from the branch I hit. I am a litttle worried about how well the Magic Shine will hold up if I hit something.

Runtime - Winner: Dinotte

On high output, the Dinotte is rated at 3.5 hours (and I have verified that you can get about 3.5 hours runtime). The Magic Shine is rated at 3 hours and I have not yet been able to verify how much I can actually get out of it. So, on paper, I give the nod to Dinotte. Of course the Dinotte battery pack is slightly bigger than the Magic Shine pack, so there is a price to pay for the longer runtime

Ease of Use - Winner: Neither

I find both lights very easy to use. I can operate both lights even when I am wearing snoboard mittens over my riding gloves. I like the fact that with the Dinotte light I can cycle through the settings without having to turn the light off.

Light Output - Winner: Pretty even

Both lights put out a tremendous amount of light. Comparing the two (see photos below), I would say that the Dinotte, rated at 600 lumens is a little brighter than the Magic Shine, rated at 900 lumens. Take a look at the side-by-side photo below - the Magic Shine light output is much more yellow than the Dinotte output. Some may like this, but personally I prefer the whiter output of the Dinotte light. Also, the Magic Shine seems to have more of a central "spot" with a lot of light spillover around the sides as compared to the Dinotte light which seems to have more uniform light output across it's beam. I have not gone Mountain Biking with the Magic Shine light yet, but as a commuter light, they both work great.

Value for the money - Winner: It depends

If you are looking for a inexpensive light that puts out a tremendous amount of light, then the Magic Shine is the clear winner. If you want a high-quality light that will last for years and take a lot a abuse, then for me, and for now, the Dinotte light is the winner.

If the Magic Shine is able to take the abuse of my daily commute and Mountain Bike night riding without failing, then I would not hesitate to call it the overall winner. It's just too soon to tell. Another thing I should mention in the value equation is that the Dinotte light came with a helmet mount and with a second battery whereas these are extra with the Magic Shine. Of course I could buy four Magic Shines for the price of one Dinotte light and have four batteries and three spare lights! But the value equation has to take into account durability and reliability as well as price and the Magic Shine is not proven yet, whereas the Dinotte light is proven rock solid. If your light craps out in middle of the woods at night, your not going to be thinking about how much money you saved! Ask me in a year and I will call a clear winner...

A couple of photos. I'm not as adept as others with taking good night shots, but I think these are pretty representative of what I was seeing with my own eyeballs.

Both lights shining on a wall. Dinotte on the left, Magic Shine on the right:

Cool review!

Thanks for good comparison. Its fun to read what other people's thoughts are on the MS. I bought my MS to supplement what I already use (JET Phantom). The two lights make a really good combination, IMO. Like you, I look forward to seeing how the durability plays out.

self timer!

Originally Posted by woodway

I would chalk that up to I was able to hold the camera a little more still in the Magic Shine shot. As I said, I am not good with the camera.

The trick to taking steady shots at night is to use the self timer. Your finger pushing the button shakes the camera while the shutter is open. Using the self timer, you can separate the button push from the open shutter. Better yet, place the camera on something stationary too.

Yes, exactly. Many are seeing the Magic Shine price and asking "is this too good to be true?". I thought I would try and give the perspective of someone who has been riding with an expensive light for the last two years.

I just purchased 3 magicshines off ebay. We'll see how they do. I like a ton of light while riding and I'm thinking Ill run two on bars and one helmet. Maybe overkill (but I'm excited to see!!). If its just too much then I'll have a spare ready to go.

We get messages from customers almost every day thanking us for bringing the Magicshine to market so more people can ride at night reliably, safely, and within a budget. We know it's not the perfect lightset for everyone but it fits the "bill" for many and we constantly work to improve the product. We listen to your feedback. The OP offers some very good observations. Thank you.

We are truly gratified by these messages. They keeps us striving to improve, augment, and create!

Ordered a Magicshine a couple of days ago from Geoman. Was going to upgrade to a Lupine or a higher level Dinotte than what I currently have (600l or 800l), but decided to wait a while to see what new technology might come through. Took a chance hoping the MS will function reliably for at least year. We'll see how it goes as the reports here on the quality of the MS, indicates that you get what you pay for.

I have a pair of Magicshine 900s and the new tail light for commuting. They offer the BRIGHTEST bang for the buck. I've been riding with the headlights for a year and just picked up the tail light. I can run both head lights off of a single battery with the Y cable and can get 2-1/2 hrs plus per charge when running both headlights on high. I keep an extra charger at work in case I forgot the charge the previous nite. I don't know what the burn time will be running 3 lights on high but the medium setting is more than adequet. Perfect for commuting.

Woodway, Thanks very much for the review. Since I also own a Dinotte 600L and couple P-7 torches ( same emitter as the MagicShine ) I thought I'd throw some comments out as well.

In comparing the 600L to the P-7: Yes, the outputs are very similar. The 600L wins by a hair but only because the beam is just *slightly wider ( *although not noticeable for the most part ) Although I don't own a MagicShine ( from what I've read in reviews ) I'm not sure I would like the driver mode pattern because it includes the goofy flash modes. Sure, you can cycle through it quickly ( just like with torches ) but it would take getting used to. Since the MS is so cheap you basically deal with it.

By and far, IMO, the Dinotte 600L is the light I would want if I wanted a "Primary" light for bar mounting. The duel switch plus easy cycle-through-3-mode emitter driver is top notch. Not to mention the separate flash menu. Add to this: Completely sealed Li-ion batteries and a great mounting system. My favorite feature though is the nice bar mount that is totally quick-release and is designed to pivot ( R-L ) The light head itself is designed to slide on/off the bar mount very easily AND will also tilt up/down without having to move the bar mount. I think if you consider all these things the 600L wins hands down. The only thing that doesn't make it a slam-dunk is the MS price and comparable light output.

Now if Dinotte would only start to use the Cree emitters.... ...THEN, we would be talking Slam-dunk! Unfortunately, the gurus at Dinotte are dead-set determined to continue using SSC emitters. I practically begged them to upgrade the emitters to XP-G but to no avail. An XP-G version of the 600L ( making it a 900L+ ) would of been sweet. I would of paid for the upgrade in a heartbeat. Heck, who wouldn't love to see an XP-G/Regina version of the 400L? ( making it a 600L+ )

...Now if MagicShine ever decides to put out a triple XP-G version...hold on to your hats folks....